V. C. Jernstedt’s “Brilliant Mistake”: Commentary of Classical Philologist on the Poem “Mustache” by A. S. Pushkin

Abstract

The publication in 1899 of the first volume of Alexander Pushkin’s works prompted the classical philologist Viktor Carlovich Jernstedt to re-read his lyceum lyrics, thoroughly imbued with ancient motifs. In Pushkin’s philosophical ode “Mustache”, written in 1816, Jernstedt’s attention was drawn to the line “where are the skinny dramas of Cleon?” and he dedicated a short note to it, which is being published and commented on for the first time. Here, Jernstedt made a witty guess that Pushkin was referring to the little-known ancient playwright Cleophon, but mistakenly wrote the name of the famous politician Cleon. Jernstedt wonders from what source Pushkin could have known about Cleophon. Lyceum students could get information about Aristotle’s “Poetics”, where the name of Cleophon occurs, from the first volume of Jean- François de La Harpe’s “Lycée ou cours de littérature ancienne et modern” (1799), which at that time was a manual for teaching literature. But the name of Cleophon is not found here, nor is it in the didactic work “L’art poétique” by Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, available to lyceum students both in the original language and in Russian translation. The classical philologist overestimated, however, the cultural baggage of the lyceum poet, the vastness and depth of the lyceum education. Later, Pushkinists established that under the name of Cleon the mediocre poet A. A. Shakhovskoy, a contemporary of Pushkin, was hiding. Jernstedt approached Pushkin’s text from the viewpoint of a classical philologist, underestimating the cultural context of the era. Nevertheless, his mistake in itself is quite remarkable, and his questions indicate his intention to continue the research and point out the direction of future quest.